I’m stunned. Nanny urges me, I just open the door and get into the car blankly.
“We need to hurry up.” Nanny didn’t see Yanny, and when I look in that direction again, Yanny has already hided.
When I start the car and drive out of the parking lot, I just remember that it was me myself asked Yanny to wait for me in the parking lot! I asked her to call me out later!
“Exposed! We’ve exposed!” I think it over and over again.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look very well.”
I shake my head and vaguely say: “Nothing.” but there are some murmurs in my heart.
Yanny saw Nanny’s intimate contact with me! If this thing spreads from her mouth, then I would be over! At least everyone in the company knows! And then in their eyes, Nanny and I become lovers. Well, maybe I’ll be treated as a man of greedy for Nanny’s wealth. But I don’t care about this that much.
What I care about is my relationship with her. I don’t want it to be exposed! I can’t let everyone know! Because I don’t know how to deal with it now, or I haven’t thought out a clever way to solve the problem. If it’s exposed now, it would be terrible.
I’m driving in an absent-minded way, even don’t hear Nanny calls me twice, until the third, then I come back to my mind: “Hmm? What did you say?”
“You’ve just gone the wrong way. You should have turned.”
“Well… Ah?” I calm down and say, “By the way, where are we going?” I’m really in a mess. After driving out so long time, I just remember to ask this question.
Nanny frowns slightly: “Chen Yang. Are you really OK?”
“It’s all right!” I decide not to tell her, “Where are we going?”
“Outside the city… Well, the private club area in the eastern outskirts, do you know there?”
I’m somewhat surprised, and I can’t help turning around and looking at her: “Private club area in the eastern suburbs?”
The casino?
“Minister Kim is staying there this time. He asks me to take you together on the phone just now. Chen Yang… Well, can I ask you something?”
My heart is a little confused, casually say: “What?”
“Minister Kim. He seems to have a good impression with you. The Korean business is very important to our company. Many people in the company have made a lot of efforts for this. Now the key is lying on their Korean company. Minister Kim speaks in their company with great weight. Now he’s very fond of you, so…”
“I see.” I nod, laugh and say, “You can rest assured that I am a member of the company now. I will deal with him well. I have a sense of propriety.”
But I still have some worries in my heart. Is it really OK to go to the casino? Juan and Yumi have already asked me to stay away. Now let me go to the casino, I always feel weird.
And, Yanny, won’t she say something to others? Hope she won’t!
I turn around at an intersection and drive to the eastern suburbs. When I see a convenience store on the roadside, I stop the car and say to Nanny in a low voice: “Nanny, would you mind help me to buy a pack of cigarettes?”
She first freezes, then smiles and agrees to my request without any unhappy. Instead, she opens the door and goes out with joy.
With a sigh, I take out my mobile phone and dial Yanny’s number.
The phone rings several times, but she doesn’t answer the phone. My heart is sinking. I dial again. She still doesn’t answer. But then she sends a text message:
“?”
There’s nothing else, just a question mark.
I think for a moment and sent a text message to her: “Can you don’t tell?”
Then she texts back: “OK! But when you come back, let’s talk.”
I send an “OK”. Just at that time, Nanny has come back. I put the mobile phone back to the pocket. Then I take the cigarette and take a look. This one is pretty expensive.
There’re some uneasinesses in her eyes: “That’s the best in the shop, is it OK?”
I’m dumbfounding. She really seems to have become a girl who has just fallen in love with her lover.
“This one is very expensive. I usually don’t buy that expensive cigarette. Ordinary cigarette is enough for me.” I smile.
She looks nervous: “Ah? Let me go to change for you.”
“No need.” I hold her and start the car, “This is fine. Thank you.”
I feel a little better, at least I know that Yanny would not tell others what she has seen just now. I believe she will keep her words.
Since the secret has been kept now, I just focus on the purpose of this way.
“Minister Kim wants to see me. Is he trying to play another game?”
“I don’t know.” Nanny is shaking her head, “But… Well, it doesn’t matter to tell you anyway. There’s a member-based hotel which is not opened to the outside. There’s an underground casino inside it. Chen Yang, you can’t talk about it outside, do you understand?”
“I know…”
She looks at me and says: “Oh… You knew it, didn’t you? You know Yumi, and she’s working there, so you have already known there is a casino there long ago!”
I speak nothing. What she says is the truth, and I don’t want to lie to her. So, I had better keep silent. In this way, neither affirmation nor negation is tantamount to non-statement.
She hesitates for a moment: “Chen Yang, I always have a question in my heart, how do you know Yumi? Are you familiar with her? You told me before that you only met her twice before. So, do you know what Yumi is doing there?”
“I… and Yumi really only saw each other twice.” I think about it and say carefully, “I don’t really know her very well. Just because my ex-boss used to know her, so I got know her too. Then when I lost my job, Yumi met me by chance, knowing that I had no job at that time, she introduced me to work for you. It was just a coincidence.”
Say these words. I’m also uneasy, but then I comfort myself that what I said was not a lie. It just hides some details.
Nanny, after all, is a very smart woman. She hears that there’ss something vague in my words and her eyes are staying on my face for a while, but she doesn’t ask me any more questions.
I drive out of the city to the eastern suburbs and then onto the road leading to the casino.
Although this is only my second time here, but more than one month ago, the last time I came here, it was really left a deep impression to me!
To the left is a private high-end villa residential area. To the right, live along the road and drive to the clubhouse area.
At the daytime, the scenery here is much better than what I saw last time in the night.
The hill next is all green. The weather is pretty good. Our car is slowly entering the club area. The security guard at the door sees Nanny’s membership card and let us get in.
Nanny is a member here too. But thinking of the mysterious background behind her, I’m not surprised at all.
Crossing the clubhouse area during the day, the environment here undoubtedly looks clearer.
There is a completely European sculpture fountain surrounded by four or five intersections in front of us. The signs show the way to the racetrack, the golf course and so on. And the private hotel which was impressed me is right ahead!
That night, Juan was standing there to take me into another world far from my previous life, and today I am here again… Of course, I remind myself that Juan does not belong to here anymore now. I need to be more careful.
“Here it is. Just drive in.” Nanny is pointing to the hotel’s underground parking lane. A white card is shown at the door. The security guard in black immediately retreats to the roadside and bows down to let us go.
I remember Juan told me that the underground parking spaces here are fixed members, and Nanny gives the number of the parking space is actually the most inside of the separate garage! I am somewhat shocked.
Seems that Nanny’s membership level here is quite high!
From the elevator to the fourth floor of the hotel, here is a café BAR. But it seems few people there. Entering the door, I see Minister Kim and two men are sitting there chatting, each of them with a cigar on hand. And there are two women are sitting at the same table, young, beautiful, well-dressed, dressing in very expensive and decent clothes, with noble and elegant gesture.
“Miss Fang!” When Minister Kim sees us from afar, he stands up immediately. Then he’s greeting with me, who’s standing beside Nanny: “Oh, our god of gambling is here too!” After that, he stretches out his arms and comes to hug me warmly.
I’m somewhat surprised that Minister Kim is so enthusiastic. This guy has a very straightforward look, sharp edges and corners on his face. His face if full the smile, a pair of bright eyes look very energetic. I hear him say to me: “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time, and I’ve always wanted to play with you again!”
Then he almost throws Nanny aside, pulls me to the other two men and say: “Let me introduce Nonda Park, my friend, is also a famous master in Jeju Island Casino. I take him here for sightseeing this time!” I take a look at that man. He is a very ordinary looking man, in his thirties, of medium stature. I can’t see any features from his appearance. The only thing that I notice is that he is pretty tall. There is an occasional flash of light in his eyes. He is a Korean, and he seems don’t understand our language. So, he just nods to me and shakes my hand.
“This is an old friend of mine. I didn’t expect him to travel here this time. He just met me yesterday.” Minister Kim is pointing to the last man and saying with the smile, “Hey! Why are you still sitting there? Don’t hide! Are you shying like a woman? Come on!” He pulls up the man. I just look at him, and am frozen!
He is tall and slender, with a standard model figure, a handsome face, with a calm and indifferent smile in his eyebrows. This man is: Winson Lee!
Winson is looking at me with a calm expression on his face: “Hello, Chen Yang, we meet again.” Then he reaches out hand to shake with me.
I just come back to myself and say: “Hello, Mr. Lee.” Then I shake hands with him.
“Do you know each other?” Minister Kim is somewhat surprised. But then he’s saying with laugh, “No wonder! You are all good gamblers. It’s not surprising that you know each other. Alas! Winson, you have such a good friend, why didn’t you introduce to us?”
Winson squints at me and has a little fun in his eyes: “I didn’t know Chen Yang is a gambler. We haven’t known each other for a long time.”
Then Winson turns to Nanny, and he looks at Nanny’s bright and moving beauty. His eyes are slightly dazed. Then he calms down, with a slight smile on his lips, he says softly: “Hello, madam. I’m Winson Lee.”
Nanny doesn’t react much. She just says lightly: “Deep Blue Entertainment, Nanny Fang.”
Minister Kim seems to be in high spirits. He’s laughing and saying: “OK, now that we’re all here, there are so many masters here, we should have a good time today!”
Nanny interrupts him with a grin: “Minister Kim, you won’t call me here just to play cards, will you? Let’s negotiate the business first.”
Unexpectedly, there is a sly look in the eyes of Minister Kim. He’s laughing: “It’s still early, too early! Business can be talked about slowly, not in a hurry. How do you say, Miss Fang?”
Winson is smiling at me and saying: “Chen Yang. I didn’t expect to meet you here. You haven’t come to me for tea these two days!”
I grin bitterly: “Too busy, vulgar things entangled.”
“But I really didn’t expect you to be a gambling expert. Don’t deny it. Minister Kim won’t lie.”
Minister Kim is laughing and saying immediately: “Exactly! To be honest, I played with Chen Yang once. That scene, now every time thinking of it, still let me be cold sweating! I’ve never lost so badly!”
Then Minister Kim introduces the two beautiful women beside him.
Both of them are Korean beauties who have been standing by since we came in just now. They’re quietly waiting for our greetings to be over. When they hear Minister Kim’s words, they just take a step forward. Their faces are not unhappy at all, still smiling.
It is said that Korea is a country with a very serious patriarchal social habits, and it seems it is true. Women’s status is far lower than mens.
They introduce themselves. These two beauties are from Minister Kim’s company. One is in charge of performing arts training and the other is in charge of public relations.
With these two beautiful women who are exquisite in appearance and make-up, they are all outstanding in appearance, but they just make me feel… strange.
Well, all of a sudden, I’m struck by the fact that most beautiful women in Korea have cosmetic surgery. Are these two the same?
But I just look at two Korean beauties for a while, Nanny on my side immediately has a sour look in her eyes. I quickly turn around my eyes.
Winson is always smiling peacefully, but I’ve learned about this guy. He is absolutely a man of hiding.
“Mr. Lee, do you like playing cards?” I ask him with a smile.
Before he speaks, Minister Kim claps him on the shoulder: “He? He’s a pervert! Riding horses, playing balls, tasting wine, cigars and playing chess in gardens, this fellow can play any game well. As for playing cards, he is a gold member of the Asian Bridge Association. You say do he know how to play cards?”